Bahamas Speed Week
The Bahamas Speed Week was an annual motor racing meeting held at Nassau in The Bahamas from 1954 to 1966.
History
First held in 1954 on the Windsor Field Road Course in Nassau, the inaugural event was titled as the Nassau Trophy Road Races.[1] [2] Masten Gregory won the main race, the Nassau Trophy, in a Ferrari 375 MM.[1] The 1956 meeting was promoted as the Third Annual International Bahamas Speed Week.[3] For 1957, the meeting was moved to another airfield location, the 5-mile (8.0 km) Oakes Course, which was closer to the main population areas on the island.[4]
Due to needed track repairs and the lack of additional funding by the Bahamian government, as well as competition from more races running in December, the event was discontinued after the 1966 edition.[5]
Nassau Trophy
The following table lists the winners of the Nassau Trophy, the feature race at each of the 13 Speed Week meetings.
Year [6] | Winning driver [6] | Car [6] |
1954 | Masten Gregory | Ferrari 375 MM |
1955 | Phil Hill | Ferrari 857 S |
1956 | Stirling Moss | Maserati 300S |
1957 | Stirling Moss | Ferrari 290 MM |
1958 | Lance Reventlow, Chuck Daigh |
Scarab Mk I Chevrolet |
1959 | George Constantine | Aston Martin DBR2/420 |
1960 | Dan Gurney | Lotus 19 Coventry Climax |
1961 | Dan Gurney | Lotus 19 Coventry Climax |
1962 | Innes Ireland | Lotus 19 Coventry Climax |
1963 | A. J. Foyt | Scarab Mk IV Chevrolet |
1964 | Hap Sharp, Roger Penske |
Chaparral 2A Chevrolet |
1965 | Hap Sharp | Chaparral 2A Chevrolet |
1966 | Mark Donohue | Lola T70 Mk.2 Chevrolet |
Bahamas Speed Week Revival
Since 2011 the Bahamas Speed Week Revival has taken place along the beach at Nassau and down from the harbor. Cars range from vintage racers to new vehicles that now race in a time trials format.[5]
References
- Nassau Speed Weeks 1954, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018
- Official Programme, Nassau Trophy Road Races, Windsor Field Road Course, December 6 through 12 1954, www.racingsportscars.com Retrieved 11 September 2018
- Nassau Speed Weeks 1956, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018
- Terry O'Neill, The Bahamas Speed Weeks, Veloce Publishing Ltd, page 14.
- Smith, Steven Cole (December 24, 2012). "Bahamas Speed Week Revival". Autoweek. 62 (26): 20–21. ISSN 0192-9674.
- Nassau Speed Weeks, www.wsrp.cz Retrieved 11 September 2018